Economic Development Of Niger : Economic Growth And Poverty In West Africa

Instead of focusing on diversifying, the leaders of the country focus on gaining power and standing in the government. “Nigeria’s most daunting challenge lies in overcoming the severe divisions among its competing religious and ethnic groups” . Moreover, once they gain it, their problems do not end, since they must look over their back, never knowing how long they will hold on to the little power they have. Meanwhile, the common person suffers, as he is neglected by his government and must survive on his own. “The standard of living declined even further than before and external debts increased.” This neglect of the common man bodes ill for the government, as it is the common man who votes in the polls. However, the vote does very little, since corruption is rampant in Nigeria.

The one child policy is harsh, with strict consequences from thousands of dollars of fees, to abortion pressures and even forced sterilization. Yet this policy is only focused towards urban areas, most rural areas are barely looked over. In the urban areas some people are not financially capable to pay off the penalty of having several children. Their homes get trashed, cattle and pigs stolen sometimes even children get kidnapped(3).

The Republic of Niger, a poor, landlocked country, located in the heart of Sub-Saharan West Africa. Niger has seen its fair share of change throughout the decades; moving away from the control of the French Parliament in 1960, Niger formally declared its independence. Despite this bold act of independence, Niger would not see its first steps towards democracy until the early 1990’s, when they held their first open election as a free state. However, even with the empowerment of the people in a democratic government, Niger has seen itself nearly torn apart as a result constant coups, that have occurred as recently as 2010. Such instability has led to incredulous amounts of corruption and poverty, within the Niger government. This lack of stability and constant turnover in government, has been a driving factor behind the lack of resources available for education in Niger.

Nigeria’s population has multiplied over four times in the past 65 years going from 40 to 170 million people. This may not seem like a lot of people compared to countries like China and India, but we must remember that Nigeria is only roughly the size of Texas. It is crazy to think that a country that small accounts for one-sixth the population of the whole continent of Africa. It is estimated that by 2050 the Nigerian population will reach 390 million and in 2100 climb to 545 million. However, some people doubt Nigeria can continue to support that many people, even at the bare minimum level, for that long. Overpopulation is quickly becoming a very real issue in Nigeria and for years the Nigerian government, with help from the rest of the world, has searched for

In recent times, a lot of countries in Africa practice a federal system of government where a mandated person is elected and in power for four years, but will not leave power because of corruption and oppression, making it difficult to create a room for a change. Most presidents will remain in power for decade’s threatening its people, oppressing and creating division amongst its citizens, thus democracy is abused. Most times, the president of 80% of countries in Africa, divert funds for its state and country into their own personal accounts, leaving people to die of

Sub-Saharan economy has improved overall, but the region is still struggling with their economic performance. Prolonged colonization has left the region with weak institutions. Personal rule policy that is based on personal relationships and favors, has also contributed for the prevalence of weak institutions. The rules are applied selectively and depends on the connections one has. The wealth of the state belongs also to the head of the state and those closest to him (Moss 2011, p. 40). Furthermore, the enclave economy does not depend on development or production since it is based on resource exports and accumulation of wealth for the elites. Leonard and Straus argue that enclave economies discourage evolution of the institutions due to lack of incentives, and are the basis for personal rule (Leonard and Straus 2003, p. 13, 17).

Around the world more than 2.5 billion men, women, and children live in grinding poverty on less than $2- a-day (“Resources, hunger”). This is just one of the many alarming statistics I have found while conducting research on this topic. Children everywhere, especially in rural areas are going through extremely rough times. Regions such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are among some of the hardest hit population (“Resources, hunger”). Young children, especially girls, are some of the most susceptible because hunger and malnutrition affect their physical and mental development severely (“Resources, hunger”). Men, women, and children around the world are living in poverty; it results in lower literacy rates, chronic hunger, and diseases

“Proponents and analysts of SD [sustainable development] need to clearly reject the attempts to focus on economic growth as a means to poverty removal and/or environmental sustainability” (Lele 1991: 618). Do you agree with this statement? Explain your position.

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country, and it’s the 9th most populous country in the world, with an estimated 150 million people. Lately the country has had a huge amount of explosive population growth due to its high fertility rate. It

The dictionary definition of poverty is the state of being extremely poor, or the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor. Many people may say that poverty is poverty and that there are no levels to it, but the poverty in Nigeria, Africa is on a different spectrum than countries in other continents.

Poverty is a very frightening scenario that has played out time and time again in Nigeria. Researchers point out in statistics showing that “in 2012... The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that the poverty crisis in Nigeria varied by region, sector and gender, and impacted Nigerian youth, children and mothers more than the adult male population”. The nature and causes of poverty have also been examined. According to the World Bank, “poverty is an outcome not only of economic processes, but it is also an outcome of interacting economic, social, and political forces”. Equal opportunities for all citizen in Nigeria, regardless of gender, is an absolute necessity in order to provide peace, harmony and personal happiness and appreciation to offer the gift of life. These opportunities can only be achieved with honest, fair-minded leaders who are concerned with the daily lives of its citizens. These leaders must be willing to engage in dialogue with them to determine their needs, concerns and ideas for a happier society, and an appreciation of the important of family life is essential. Unless a genuine, people loving leader assumes responsibilities for improving the lives of people living in his/her country, a little change can or will take place.

The poverty in dictionary it means the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support. This is an extremely confusing definition and covers whole Poverty, although I am going to talk about poverty in Africa that you can find out causes & effects of Poverty in Africa And the ways that you we can help those people.

It is important to know the nature of poverty in Ghana so as to better appreciate discourse on matters as far as alleviating poverty in Ghana is concerned.

Economic growth and Economic Development is of the highest priority in regards to a well-functioning sovereign state. Economic growth powers an economy through the stability ensured by equilibrium in the circular flow of money accompanied by: growing international competitiveness in a globalised market, increase in real GDP through the appropriate allocation of resources most suited to the expansion of the economy, increase in aggregate demand and increased efficiency in the economy. Stagnation or prolonged contraction of an economy, identified by the disequilibrium in the circular flow of money, with leakages exceeding injections, and a growing Current Account Deficit (CAD), can lead to a fall in aggregate demand, wages and employment. With this fall also comes a fall in the Quality of Life as the aggregate propensity to spend contracts and Government assistance is more widely needed to meet daily needs.

Economies grow and develop, they expand and advance, and they progress and prosper. There are phases when they decline too, and there are economies that experience continuous decay. If one considers long stretches of human history, one knows that economies (civilizations) disappeared altogether. We will not take into account such long stretches of time. We shall not consider too distant a past either. We will leave them to historians, may be, economic historians.